bio

Serotiny

The habit of holding seed on the plant inside resin-sealed cones or fruits that open only when heated past a threshold, typically around 60-80 °C. It sounds like a dangerous wager, but the timing is remarkably precise: the seed drops into a bed that fire has just cleared, fertilised with mineral-rich ash, and left temporarily free of competitors. Many pines and most Australian Banksia work this way, with Banksia adding cycles of wetting and drying to prise the follicles open after the burn. It is the cleanest example of a plant not merely surviving fire but timing its reproduction to it.